Articles by IRREGULATORS

This is a collection presented on Muckrack of the articles in 2023-2024

This is a list of articles that were published on Medium

Search

Chevron Deference vs Regulatory Capture.

2 days ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInAgree & Join LinkedIn By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy. Sign in to view more content Create your free account or sign in to continue your search or New to LinkedIn? Join now or New to LinkedIn?Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

ACP Refunding vs Let’s Get the Money Back.

7 days ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInTHIS IS PART 1: PART 2: The IRREGULATORS Request $1.5 Billion be Immediately Paid by Verizon for Illegally Charging Wireline Customers for Its Wireless Networks, for Just the Years 2022 and 2023, in Just New York — To Start With. NOTE: ACP, “Affordable Connectivity Program”, has been a critical government subsidy for 23 million low income families and individuals to purchase broadband internet services and it has just ended after spending over $14 billion dollars.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

The Real Story Behind Net Neutrality: The Killing Off of Competition in the US.

2 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumThis is an excerpt of our fling that details how the independent wired ISPs were forced out of business via regulatory capture of the FCC and the original Net Neutrality proceedings. Moreover, the filing detailed the different ways the companies have manipulated the actual accounting of lines in service and how the data and presentation is deceptive, but was used to make public policies.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Title II: The FTTP, Fiber to the Premises is a Title II, Common Carrier Upgrade of the Existing Telecommunications Public Utility Networks.

3 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumIRREGULATORS Position: Go After the Money and Halt Government Subsidies to the companies that have been and are still overcharging us. This is from the Verizon DC cable franchise, 2007. — a Title II, fiber optic wire is part of the existing state utility. And it continued with a listing of all of the other TITLE II -FTTP installations throughout the Verizon territories and utilities.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Pennsylvania’s Fiber Optic Telecom History Will Smack America’s Broadband Plans

3 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumThis is taken directly from the original Verizon PA plan, which was dated December 1994, which is 30 years ago. It was literally called “Opportunity Pennsylvania”, sometimes referred to as Chapter 30.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Dear AT&T California residents who are being threatened with a ‘shut off’ of the aging copper wires;

3 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumIRREGULATORS Position — First, Californians should demand all of the money back to pay for the fiber optic wires that should have been installed as part of the state public utility upgrades over the last 30 years. ACTION: SEPARATE AT&T FROM CALIFORNIA’S NETWORKS; Start proceedings to separate AT&T from control of California’s state utility wires that they let deteriorate. ACTION: AT&T Created the Digital Divide.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Report: Verizon Tells Investors 2024 Is All about FWA Wireless, Harming the Entire East Coast Footprint, from MA to VA.

4 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumDownload the Full ReportIntroductionAmerica is giving over $150 billion in state and federal subsidies over the next few years to ‘solve the Digital Divide’, and bring in “Digital Equity’; And, as we detailed elsewhere, the phone companies, which includes Verizon, AT&T and CenturyLink (Lumen), in large part, helped to create this Digital Desert by failing to properly upgrade and maintain, and being able to control America’s agenda via regulatory capture.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

The Cable Con; Prices are Unjust and Unreasonable on All Services: Full Rate Cases and Investigations Need to Start Now.

5 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumThis is the 4th story in a series to supply an alternative 5-year broadband plan for America based on actual facts — and a roadmap for solving the Digital Divide. This is Part IV and we will consider:Is a 90+% profit margin on the Digital Voice and Broadband-Internet Service Excessive? Made up Fees are actually considered ‘revenues’ and therefore are taxed and fee’d and paid by the customers.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Telecom Analysts, Auditors and Lawyers from the IRREGULATORS, Use Cutting Edge AI Tools to Defend the Public Interest.

5 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumHow Many Material Facts are Missing from the Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 5- year Broadband Plans? FACT: NOT ONE STATE HAS DETAILED HOW THE DIGITAL DIVIDE WAS CREATED IN THEIR STATE OR WHO IS RESPONSIBLE. OR WHAT WERE THE PREVIOUS FIBER OPTIC PLANS, OR HOW MUCH MONEY WAS CHARGED TO CUSTOMERS OR IS BEING CHARGED IN 2024.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

EXPOSED: For 14 Years, Verizon NY & NY State have Hidden and Fully Redacted Verizon NY’s FIOS Cable TV Annual Financial Reports, and the other Cable Companies’ Books. | by Bruce Kushnick | Feb, 2024 | Medium

5 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumCLICK FOR PDF: SUMMARY REPORT COVERING THIS DISCUSSION. America is giving out over $150 billion dollars in state and federal government subsidies in an attempt to ‘solve the Digital Divide’.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

“No Gimmicks” Vs America Is Getting Screwed.

6 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|Medium$181 Dollars of OVERCHARGING A MONTH? How can the Spectrum-Charter NY Triple Play cost almost 5–7 times more? We assembled our previous research with new findings in this new series, using both 3rd party expert analysis as well as examples, including the actual bills, with all of the charges listed. Briefly, this is PART 2 and is based on actual communications bills where we compare Free Telecom of France Triple Play with Spectrum-Charter Triple Play in New York City. December, 2023.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

America’s Egregious Broadband Rates vs Overseas Prices. Why?

6 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumThis chart, taken from the European Union Report on Broadband, shows that a triple play — phone, cable TV, broadband-Internet, can cost about 36 Euros for a service with 30–100 Mbps speeds, and 21 Euros for a stand alone service. However, the second chart below shows that some countries are offering 21 Euros for a triple play, 10 Euros for a stand alone broadband connection.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

America’s Communications Prices are Out of Control; The Statue of Liberty is Crying.

6 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInHow is it possible that in France, (and most of the European Union members) the price of service for a 5G wireless broadband service can cost about 12.99 Euros — about $14.30 US (The Dollar is $1.10 compared to the Euro) — for 140 GBs? And if the customer gets the triple play from Free, one of the competitors, the customer can get an additional 2 wireless 5G broadband lines for 9.99 Euros, about $11.00 each which comes with 250 GB, each.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

TELECOM ANALYSTS, AUDITORS AND LAWYERS FROM THE IRREGULATORS, USE CUTTING EDGE AI TOOLS TO DEFEND THE PUBLIC INTEREST

7 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|irregulators.orgIMMEDIATE RELEASE;TELECOM ANALYSTS, AUDITORS AND LAWYERS FROM THE IRREGULATORS, USE CUTTING EDGE AI TOOLS TO DEFEND THE PUBLIC INTERESTHow many Material Facts are Missing from the Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 5- year Broadband Plan?Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

America’s Communications Prices Are Buckets of Overcharging that Need to be Halted.

7 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumLet’s start with just one major rip off– Made up, added fees are for more profits to the companies. And they need to be removed. Period. The NYC Spectrum-Charter Triple Play is about $225.00 a month, and this is a basic plan; no movies or DVR, etc. It has a Broadcast & Sports fee, a made up, additional charge of now $27.90, a separate line item on every cable bill. Is this bogus, ‘junk fee’, ‘just and reasonably’ priced? Not. The fee is NOT mandated by the government.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

New Series: Holes in the State Broadband Office 5 Year plans: Material Facts Missing.

8 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInWe created  a new series of articles, published on LinkedIn, to document and explain why the new state broadband offices should be investigating how the Digital Divide was created in their state, including the companies that helped to create this mess. The articles also lay out specific areas for investigation that could help fund the solution to the Digital Divide, without government subsidies. Article 1: “An Alternative Path and Additions to the NTIA and State 5-Year Broadband Plans”.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Alternative Path 5 Year Plan Needs to Confront the Multiple Wireless 5G Bait-&-Switch for Fiber.

8 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInVerizon and AT&T told investors multiple times that they had no interest in upgrading the state telecommunications public utilities, especially rural areas, with fiber optics. Yet, they never told the public or regulators that they would be diverting the state construction budgets to build out their wireless networks — because it made them more profits. And this is the story of the creation of the current Digital Divide.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

The Sextuple Fiber Optic Infrastructure Harms: Follow the Money.

8 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInWe present an unsettling picture of how the Digital Divide was created in America,  focusing on 6 different ways the state telecommunications utility network construction budgets have been sliced and diced, which directly harmed customers, as well as the cities and states’ economic growth. This is Part 2.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

It is All about the Fiber Optic Infrastructure of the State Telecom Utilities.

9 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInAmerica was supposed to have been upgraded to a fiber optic future which should have been completed, more or less, around 2010 to 2015. And though it varied by state, this nationwide plan was to replace the existing, aging copper wires that were part of the state telecommunication public utility, with a fiber optic wire that went to the home and office, starting around 1992. This was never a wireless substitute, but an actual physical wire, a fiber optic ‘access line’.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

An Alternative Path and Additions to the NTIA and State 5-Year Broadband Plans

9 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInJust how many billions of dollars in installed but unused, also known as “dark” fiber are there? Just how many billions of dollars of wireline telecommunication utility construction budgets were diverted to buildout the wireless infrastructure? How many billions have ratepayers been and continue to be overcharged for fiber networks they never received?Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Net Neutrality? Verizon’s Fiber Optic Wires have always been Classified as Title II and Part of the State Telecommunications Utility.

9 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInA short question: The opening quote is from Verizon New Jersey’s FiOS Cable TV Franchise Agreement, granted by the NJ Board of Public Utilities, and renewed in 2014. How is it possible that the fiber optic, broadband wires are classified as Title II, and part of the utility? It states that:This is just an upgrade of the existing telecommunications (state utility) network. Verizon New Jersey is the state telecommunications public utility,Verizon’s plan is to build a fiber optic network.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Dark Fiber in America? What happened to the 48 million kilometers that was installed but not in use as of 2007?

9 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInHow much more fiber was installed and has been dark since then? What happened in your state? Moreover, how much of the dark fiber is in the AT&T, Verizon and Centurylink (now Lumen) controlled state telecommunications public utilities? How much was laid in unserved and underserved areas and never put into use– but paid for? Each state is supposed to create a 5 year plan based on NTIA guidelines for Bead government subsidies.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

America’s ACP Low-income Gov. Subsidies vs Overseas Broadband Prices: Immediate Investigations to Halt the Overcharging.

10 months ago|By Bruce Kushnick|LinkedInThis chart supplies some summary results of the Rewheel/research 1st Quarter Report 2023, “The State of 4G and 5G Pricing”, and it “covers 4G and 5G prices from 50 European, American, Asia Pacific, Middle East and African countries”.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Broadband State Agencies fail to answer basic questions about how the Digital Divide was created in their state.

2 years ago|By Bruce Kushnick|irregulators.orgThe agencies, politicians, advocates and even the investigative reporters don’t even know who is to blame, or what are the core issues that need to be addressed to fix it. America is now giving over $100 billion in government funding to ‘solve the Digital Divide. We’ve checked multiple county and state Digital Divide agency sites and can not find one state that identified the players — such as the incumbent phone utilities -like Verizon NY, or that AT&T California covers most of LA County.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

4 Charts that Will Scare Every State & Federal Broadband, Digital Divide Policy Maker

2 years ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumThis is not a history lesson. It is a call to action. Chart 1: Will America Repeat the Fiber Optic, Broadband, Wireless, Bait and Switch? We present four charts from the new book, Violations & Egregious Acts: Trillion Dollar Broadband Scandal, which is a summary of 30-years of research, legal and regulatory challenges and it is the 4th book following an overstuffed trilogy, “The Book of Broken Promises”, beginning in 1992.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Violations & Egregious Acts

2 years ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumViolations & Egregious Acts: Trillion Dollar Broadband Scandal is a summary of 30-years of research, legal and regulatory challenges and it is the 4th book following an overstuffed trilogy beginning in 1992. This is not a history lesson. We detail one of the largest accounting scandals in American history that is underway; enough money to solve the Digital Divide without government subsidies.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Verizon New York 2021 Annual Report Reveals Massive Financial Scandal.

2 years ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumOn June 1st, 2022, Verizon NY 2021 Annual Report was released, (as a spreadsheet) and it represents the largest telecommunications public utility in NY State. And this excerpt shows massive financial fraud that has been going on for 2 decades. The Report’s financials are divided into 3 primary lines of business; Local Service, Nonregulated and Access/Backhaul.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

IRREGULATORS to NY STATE: Halt the Verizon Wireless and Corporate Operations Subsidies: Get Back Billions Overcharged by Verizon, Now.

2 years ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumHere’s How to Solve the Digital Divide without Government Subsidies. (Excerpt taken directly from Verizon NY 2020 Annual Report, published June 2021.)CLICK: NNI/IRREGULATORS NY FILINGSAcross America, every city and every state is now attempting to figure out how to get their hands on a part of the hundreds of billions of dollars of state and federal government subsidies that have become available to “solve the Digital Divide”.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

What Do You Mean America had National and State Fiber Optic Plans in 1993? We Were Punked.

2 years ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumDid you know that the first wireless bait-and-switch for fiber to the home was 1995? “Institutional memory” requires that someone — some government agency, or some academic center, or some political party or… anyone… actually keeps the knowledge of the past intact so that we don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over. But it is more than just that.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

Verizon, AT&T and CenturyLink Created the Digital Divide on Purpose: Where’s All the Money?

2 years ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumCLICK TO READ PART 1THIS IS PART 2Unknown to virtually everyone in America, Verizon, AT&T and CenturyLink are three holding companies, created through mergers, that control most of America’s state-based telecommunications public utilities. Since the 1990’s they have announced both state and federal plans to upgrade these mostly copper-based networks to fiber optics. In fact, by 2010, America should have been a fiber optic nation, as states announced massive deployments — which never happened.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?

They Created the Digital Divide on…

2 years ago|By Bruce Kushnick|MediumBefore 1 cent of new government subsidies is given out, especially to these companies, we want answers to basic questions, a halt to ongoing illegal cross-subsidies and to use these funds to build out the fiber networks BEFORE the government rewards the companies that created the Digital Divide. ==== THIS IS PART 1: PROVE THAT AT&T, VERIZON AND CENTURYLINK (LUMEN) CREATED THE DIGITAL DIVIDE ON PURPOSE.Open in Who SharedIssue with article?